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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27756685">Blondies, Fish and Marshmallows.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Death_and_A_Maiden/pseuds/A_Death_and_A_Maiden'>A_Death_and_A_Maiden</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ai no Kusabi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anger, Angst, Emotional Baggage, Erotica, M/M, Sad, Yaoi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:27:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,954</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27756685</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Death_and_A_Maiden/pseuds/A_Death_and_A_Maiden</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ai no Kusabi is copyrighted by Rieko Yoshihara. This is fan fiction for entertainment purposes only. This particular story takes place soon after Riki returns to Iason after his year or freedom. Some adult content, Iason x Riki, some mature language, a good bit of OOC. There will be overlapping of the two AnK versions. Nobody dies but the author personally wishes Raoul and Guy were the ones who had to die in the original. Canon as much as I can, but some moments are the fruit of my imagination. English is my foreign language, you may want to keep it in mind. Please excuse me if this is complete bonkers.</p>
<p>Thank you for reading.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Guy/Riki (Ai no Kusabi), Iason Mink/Riki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Blondies, Fish and Marshmallows.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>[Flashback. Sometime during Riki’s three years with Iason. Unspecified location.]</p>
<p>Those who said that Iason Mink just fucked his Pet could be called “wrong” in twelve different languages officially spoken in the Salinas Galaxy. Iason and Riki occasionally engaged in intellectual conversation. </p>
<p>Exhibit one. “You walk into,”- said Riki, rolling Iason’s blond hair lock around his index finger, resting himself cozily in Iason’s lap, his bronze back being pressed solid to Iason’s ivory frontage for that very reason that yes, Iason’s dick has just recently left Riki’s ass (why is sex language such anti-Viagra?),- “a room with a bed and a chair. There are four horses and a giraffe lying on the bed. There are four hens on the chair and there are five geese flying over the chair. How many legs are there in the room on the floor?”</p>
<p>Iason’s hand stopped striking Riki’s shoulder but it didn’t lift away, paused at fingertips there, barely touching against Riki’s skin. Riki couldn’t see this Blondie’s face but his breathing was steadily lifting Riki up and down as if he were riding an ocean wave. One could guess that Iason was thinking. Iason didn’t see this coming when seconds ago he had asked why Riki had such a concerned face. Iason could imagine a myriad of things that bothered a mongrel mind from a Pet party to a black market delivery, but one of the greatest minds of Tanagura was just presented with a silly riddle with exotic animals Riki could have only seen in picture books, no doubt this silly riddle was coming from there. The ball was in Iason’s court now. He could just give Riki a final kiss and, without uttering a word, leave for the day. Iason always started his day by an hour of swimming. He swam with the grace of a dolphin HE did actually possess and keep at Keeler Lab. He once did wonder what it would be like to take Riki together with him to look at the dolphin, something hinted to Iason that Riki would like that very much, but then he realized that this would freak Riki out. Pets didn’t go to Keel Lab to look at animals. Pet went to Keeler Lab to...And Riki couldn’t swim. And Riki hated water, especially when shower water splashed on his face. Riki hated having water on his face. This particular knowledge about his Pet slightly amused Iason but this was a no-fighting issue as Iason didn’t find sex in the shower even remotely convenient. He wanted to fuck Riki, not to cause him a heart attack under the shower-head. Childhood phobia, his Pet explained. He didn’t explain what phobia exactly. Another choice Iason had was to rattle his famous Blondie’s intelligence and solve the damn riddle.</p>
<p>“The bed is a standard four-legged bed?”-Iason’s body slightly shifted under Riki as Blondie settled himself more comfortably as he engaged in the conversation. Their behemoth-sized platform bed was not a standard bed.<br/>
“Uh...Yeah.”<br/>
“And the chair? A standard four-legged chair?”<br/>
“Yeah. No Pet shit.”<br/>
“Language. And we are not seriously concerned how a giraffe landed on that bed?”<br/>
“No. You are overthinking this.”</p>
<p>Silence. Iason figured out the answer but wouldn’t give it to Riki. Part of this because he was engaging in this silly game voluntarily and REALLY liked it, but his Blondie’s pride just sounded him a warning trumpet and in his mind Iason, no doubt he was running a bad fever, saw Raoul running towards him and waving a red flag. </p>
<p>“Come on, Iason. How many legs are there in the room on the floor?” </p>
<p>Iason kissed Riki one final time and left for the day, without uttering another word. </p>
<p>[Present Day.]</p>
<p>Ceres, which on old Amoi maps used to be marked as “Area 9”, was a distant memory of a scholarly interest. New maps of Amoi offered exact representation of the area for cartographic purposes but Area 9 was circled out and marked as a “keep out zone” without any clear explanation why, and Ceres population was too of a minute minority to even protest the propaganda decision of the Blondie Syndicate to obliterate Ceres from the history of Amoi. Those truly interested in history could always visit Tanagura City Museum (free of charge, by the way) for a history tour. The impressive museum building was located smack in the middle of Tanagura. Tanagura City Museum had a carefully curated display on Ceres with a full-fledged feature on Dana Bahn. The grotesque display showcased what Blondies could do to you and it served as a good warning for any unsettled minds. This museum was on a must-do list for visitors of Amoi and it went down with them with variable results. Otherwise, there were few official public records on Area 9 and the information itself was hardly two lines long. It was known that the barren wasteland of Ceres had “no industry and no unique skills it could trade”, and the location was teeming with mongrel pondlife because of Guardian and its organ farm, which was very conveniently located in Ceres to suit Amoi’s experimental purposes and at the same time to tarnish Ceres with a bad reputation brush even more. Yes, Blondies could turn a blind eye when they wanted and they could bend the system a bit when it suited them: they accepted experiments with humans as scientific necessity but they didn’t want to be sharing the same geography with their experimental subjects. However, the Elites were intelligent enough to know when their actions would raise a red flag and they knew when they reached the end of the line. But accidents did happen even in the best case scenarios, as it was now blatantly clear for anyone who cared to pay even the smallest attention. </p>
<p>This accident had a name Riki and a number Z-107M. Three years ago “Jupiter’s favourite Son” Iason Mink took a new Pet. Keeping a Pet was something that Blondies just did and never questioned and it was the absence of such a Pet that caused gossip and social friction. What scandalized Tanagura left and right, up and down, inside and out was the fact that Iason Mink took a mongrel from Ceres slums to be his Pet when a state-of-the-art line of Academy Pets was at his fingertips. Riki’s looks, behaviour, attitude, stubbornness and aggression was the talk of the day. Pets were made to be obedient and serviceable, their skills were limited, their reasoning power was restricted and the best minds of the planet worked that it remained so. Essentially, a sex slave was not meant to think and feel. Anyone who cast a sight on Riki during his rare soiree shows and Pet parties thought that Iason Mink took a rough piece of coal to polish into a shining diamond-even if he was a mongrel, there was class about him, no doubt. And there was a general understanding that everything Iason Mink touched immediately turned into gold. The way Riki held his head high, the way he walked, the way he strolled, the way he wore his Pet collar for six months instead of average two weeks...Academy Pets just couldn’t compare. Things got somewhat to an odd point when Riki spoke up his mind loudly but one thing Elites had to give him- he only fought with other Pets in self-defense. This was a basic instinct, this was humiliating to other Masters but even they couldn’t ignore the facts of divine retribution descending on their cocky Academy Pets in the form of Riki’s fist. Three years later the coal was as dark as on the day he was premiered on the show floor, which led to an open question if one of the greatest Blondie minds knew what he was doing and if Iason Mink was, in fact, as rumoured pairing with his own Pet. This rumour picked up velocity when Riki was moved to Apatia… THAT Apatia, “while no one could be certain of it, it was understood that Apatia was where the privileged of Tanagura kept their lovers”. Essentially, private condominiums in Apatia reeked of Elite cum. Aisha Rosen gave Iason Mink permission to move Riki to Apatia, Raoul Am refused to be the one tampering with Iason’s brain, and, as they say, three’s a crowd because you can’t fix stupid.</p>
<p>No, no, no.<br/>
Can’t fix stupid. </p>
<p>The year when Riki was away from the public sight, his year of freedom, was a year of freedom for Tanagura from Riki. Some hoped the mongrel was done for good and the timing, to be honest, was perfect. Iason knew this firsthand as Chief Information Officer of Amoi because he had to reap some of the fruits of his own sowing as he managed to seize censored material: a top Elite’s obsession with a marginal of the society became a hot topic for the porn print. This type of publication was widely and legally available as sex was affordable commodity on Amoi but those with a more sensitive palate for fine printing could enjoy banned visuals and stories, like the ones of Iason Mink and his Pet. The bulk was ready for shipment but it seemed that nothing of the sort had been already distributed. Iason could not help but be positively impressed at the accurate description of what the author imagined a Blondie could do to a Pet. Nobody would have even thought of such production had not gossips been fueled by Iason’s behaviour towards his Pet. The blemish on the Blondie’s reputation was major jeopardy to his position in Blondie Syndicate and cast a lewd shadow of Ceres on everyone on the Syndicate because who knew what these Blondies were up to when they thought nobody was watching? What once started as a private affair was no longer private. Fun was over, danger was imminent. And then everybody who was concerned breathed in with a relief when Riki was suddenly gone- no more scandals, no more fights, no more complaints, no more gossip, and Academy finally attracted new investors... Peace was restored and “Jupiter’s favourite Son” was forgiven. </p>
<p>[Flashback to Riki’s year of freedom. Undisclosed location in Ceres.] </p>
<p>Riki clenched his fists so hard that he drove his nails deep into his palms. Guy was sitting down on their bed, in his underwear, holding his head in his hands, his world shattering around him now. Riki was opening up and finally telling Guy about his life with Iason, but why was he having this feeling that the blood in his veins was slowly turning into Muir? Guy was not stupid. He saw how changed Riki was. Another man would have waited for Riki to speak up, but not Guy. Guy has always been upfront, he didn’t take bullshit from anyone, not even Riki the Dark. </p>
<p>“You wanted to see his BEDROOM?”- echoed Guy.- “Why the fuck would you want to do that?”<br/>
“I don’t know. I just thought that if I saw his...stuff, if I saw where HE lived, I would know who he was...and what he wanted...what he wanted from me.”<br/>
“Were you expecting a torture dungeon?”<br/>
“I don’t know.”<br/>
“Well, did you see his bedroom?”<br/>
“No. Daryl refused to let me even look at it. He literally put his hands up in the air and cried bloody murder. He said it was off limits even to him. And Iason could tell I had been there even if I didn’t touch a thing.”<br/>
“How?”<br/>
This was a good question. Riki wasn’t sure how to answer. Thing was...Iason could pick up his scent. This Blondie learned to pick up Riki’s scent. All those hours of relentless kissing, tasting, biting, caressing...and smelling. Iason knew what Riki smelled like. Not his shower gel, not his perfume, but his own goddamn real skin. </p>
<p>“He said I smell like wet moss. I asked.”</p>
<p>Guy lifted his head up and looked at Riki, his lips at “O”. </p>
<p>“WET MOSS?”<br/>
“Yeah.”<br/>
“What the fuck is moss?”</p>
<p>Riki shrugged shoulders. </p>
<p>“He said it’s something that is green and grows where it’s wet. It’s not native to Amoi.”<br/>
“And what makes you then, an alien?” Riki didn’t answer. Alien was a very good description of how he felt in Eos Tower.</p>
<p>“He said he had tasted it once out of curiosity when he was on Jibril…”<br/>
“Riki, come to bed…”</p>
<p>Riki sadly laughed.</p>
<p>Riki sleeps. Guy holds Riki is his embrace. Riki likes to be held tight in his sleep because he sometimes has bad dreams. Guy doesn’t need to be a crystal ball to know what Riki sees in his dreams. Guy smells Riki. Now Guy knows what moss smells like. And this knowledge makes him feel good.</p>
<p>[Present Day]</p>
<p>Peace lasted 365 days sharp and Riki was reported to have been seen back in Eos Tower. He mainly kept his whereabouts in Iason’s private apartment, which had a space of a small town in its own right, but word was out. Pets in Pet Salon loudly protested. Some blond eyebrows were quirked. Tension in Eos Tower was electric. Iason Mink was risking his sanity as he was putting all his chips on the mercy of the dice. Raoul Am remembered a promise he had made to Iason not to tamper with his mind but this was Jupiter’s call to make. Raoul Am as Head of Health and Safety and a talented bio-scientist was not a mean man. He had a limited range of emotions. He could be cruel but never mean. It was Riki’s mind that Raoul had no objection of tampering with. Raoul would never stoop so low as to touch a slum mongrel with rubber gloves and a red hot poker in fear of catching something so bad that he himself, Raoul Am, couldn’t cure but he did have previous experience with mongrel minds, Kirie was one of his best products. He knew he could fix Riki in fifteen minutes just by burning a certain spot in this feisty Pet’s brain. It was Iason who refused to submit Riki to behavioral correction because, as Iason explained to Raoul, he wanted to experience “the real thing”. Raoul felt responsible for the hot mess Iason was in because, truth be said, if he tampered with Riki’s mind without Iason’s knowledge to lower the levels of mongrel disgrace, there was no way Iason would ever, really ever, know. Problem was getting Riki to a laboratory without Iason noticing.   </p>
<p>[Flashback. Sometime during Riki’s three years with Iason. At a social event Iason took Riki to.] </p>
<p>Sociopaths. That’s what Blondies were, pure sociopaths. Riki titled his head and laughed at something another Pet had just said but he couldn’t get over the feeling that the entire evening he had been… watched. There was this irritating sensation on his bronze skin. He cast a glance around him furtively but he couldn’t catch the towering figure of Iason anywhere in this crowd, surrounded by dimmed lights, disco floor smoke, loud music and laughter. But Riki knew he was there… somewhere. On some VIP balcony or wherever he was hiding that particular time. Lurking. LOOKING. This was the worst. Looking always came before touching. Touching was sometimes good. Looking was never good. Riki only went to very select Pet parties but was never paired, this much he had won. He was no longer useful as a Pet “who could not mount or could not be mounted” and he came about to symbolize what a failure looks like. He was a living proof that not everything that Iason Mink touched turned into gold. In fact, most of the time Riki felt like he was made of snow and clay. He burned like snow on Iason’s hot palm and he had clay legs of a broken mongrel. If he could, he would lock himself in the darkest closet, where Daryl couldn’t coax him out with food, and cry until he melted away and ran into gutter. Novelty about him soon wore off and other Pet owners preferred their expensive Pet to have dates with a pairing partner and not a traumatologist, but they never spoke up about that to Iason out of that leftover of their respect for him that they could scrape from the bottom of the barrel, so they just tolerated Riki’s presence at those events as necessary evil. A Blondie’s figure immersed from the dimmed light. Riki’s heart fluttered and then immediately sank to an all time low as he recognized the familiar figure of Raoul Am. Raoul was a mystery to Riki. Riki noticed how Raoul looked at Iason. Raoul spoke with Iason, laughed with Iason, worked with Iason, ate with Iason but he always...looked at Iason. Looking was apparently a Blondie thing.</p>
<p>Raoul was dismayed to encounter Riki face to face.  This mongrel Pet was attracting too much attention by the members of the Syndicate. Iason compared this...garbage...to an Academy Pet! And immediately every Blondie was keen to see the comparison. Watching Riki’s antics was entertaining to a point where it got to no development. Riki would come to a party, drink, swear and pick up a fight, not in this particular order of events. But novelty wore off quickly and boredom would set in. This was why Pets were kept for two years and then discarded. That was their entertainment expiry date. Riki was nearing his eight months. </p>
<p>“You,”- said Raoul, acknowledging Riki with a disdain. Riki picked that up quickly with his street dog gut. Raoul looked over Riki head to toe.  An upstart of a mongrel. What was Iason thinking by bringing him here, where decent citizens entertained? Raoul knew he could never ask this question to Iason’s face. Oh, there was so much he wanted to ask Iason to his face but somehow the presence of this mongrel in Iason’s household made Raoul bite his tongue. Raoul cursed himself for being such a coward. He had a gazillion of rights to ask Iason WHY so many things but he painfully realized that this may be the breaking point of that thin thread their friendship was now hanging on. Raoul was jealous of Riki for a reason he could not understand and it confused him greatly. But this was not Iason, this was a piece of slum garbage. Raoul was above this. - “You are a disgrace.” </p>
<p>Pride is the worst of them all. </p>
<p>Riki pouted his lips and clenched his fists. How was what Raoul said useful information? He knew he could not attack Raoul physically, that would be a very strange form of a suicide. Instead, Riki cocked his head up to meet Raoul’s eyes and leaned forward, so close, that only Raoul could hear him. An unknowing witness could attest Riki was reaching up to for a kiss. </p>
<p>“Lord Am,”- Riki started,- “Iason wants me to stay.”<br/>
“How dare you call him by his name, you silly twat?”<br/>
“Iason wants me to stay,”- repeated Riki, his eyes mockingly blaring,- “so, now I am in your life too. I suggest you get used to it.” Riki brushed past Raoul and was gone in the darkness of the dance floor, leaving a scent of a cigarette smoke as his trail and stunned Raoul Am. </p>
<p>Iason newer knew of this conversation. </p>
<p>[Present Day.]</p>
<p>Another thing, Raoul Am knew too well the extent of a Blondie’s brain. Science was Amoi’s religion and Raoul Am was the head priest but as every religion it had its limitations. Jupiter was an algorithm and the calculations could be measured sustainably: tampering with Iason’s brain by Raoul or, in case of his refusal, by any other leading scientist could have unpredictable results. Behaviour correction on an augmented Blondie’s brain was different from any other brain due to the blunt fact that this particular brain sat on the Blondie Syndicate. Could the Syndicate that run the entire planet function impeccably with a tampered brain on board? That’s why Iason crams. He feeds names, numbers, places, events, links, things, faces into his brain, he sucks information like a dark hole. Iason’s head was not easily replaceable. Or maybe it was but if one starts to repeat something often, one finally starts to believe in it and few wanted to take this risk because at this point Iason Mink had reached the state of a living saint.  Besides, history of Amoi never knew a precedent of a Blondie’s brain being tampered with and it could have demoralizing effects on the other members of the Blondie Syndicate. If “Jupiter’s favourite Son” could be subject to behaviour correction, so could any of the remaining Blondies and Elites, and the perspective of that was far from pleasant. Every Blondie had a vice or two, or three, or four…Iason just happened to forget to close the door to the skeleton in his closet. Iason’s behavioural correction could send a signal to the entire population that the government, which Blondie Syndicate essentially was, was faulty and the spirit of Dana Bahn would start to spread like wildfire. One might guess that such a thing as the behavioural correction of a Blondie would be a top secret but secrets were where all the problems stemmed from-the more secrets, the more problems. Until memories of Riki could be absolutely safely removed from Iason’s brain, Iason was not to be touched. Iason’s brain contained so much of Syndicate material that the risk of losing such an asset was too high.  Besides, Iason Mink was, is and will probably continue to be the only known Blondie that Jupiter speaks to. Pills? Raoul Am did think of medication that Iason could take to work on certain character aspects, including sexual stimulation, but, Raoul knew it hard way, one can only lead a horse to water.</p>
<p>[Flashback. Sometime during Riki’s three years with Iason and the beginning of Riki’s friendship with Mimea. Iason’s apartment in Eos.]</p>
<p>“You cannot call it Nebuchadnezzar.”<br/>
“Why not?”<br/>
“It’s a FISH, Riki. You cannot call it Nebuchadnezzar. No one calls fish like that.”<br/>
“OK. But it can be called Nebu while it’s young.”<br/>
“Riki! Nebuchadnezzar was an ancient king. He was a great warrior and a skilled architect. His legacy has survived him for centuries. You cannot give a fish his name.”</p>
<p>No, Iason Mink didn’t have his brain reset in a faulty way. Riki was fish-sitting for the weekend. Raoul’s Pet Mimea had been gifted a goldfish but she had to go to an event away and, because she was a purposely engineered idiot, she asked Riki if he could look after the fish. For some crazy outlandish reason Riki, who was not a purposely engineered idiot, said yes and brought the fish bowl to his room. Now he was lying naked on his back in his bed and studying a names and their origins guidebook on a tablet. Iason was getting dressed. They had just committed another offense against the law and order. </p>
<p>“OK. So what’s a good name for a fish, then?”</p>
<p>Iason loudly moaned inside himself. How was he supposed to know? Running a planet was a difficult and challenging job in its own right and if he started doing meager things like fish-sitting he would not have time to be a Blondie. So, Iason Mink had zero clue what a good name for a fish was. How was it even important? </p>
<p>“How do Blondies get names?”- suddenly asked Riki. - “Does Jupiter choose?” Riki had a horrible habit of switching. He could be saying one thing and then he would be suddenly switching to something completely unrelated, like now he switched from fish to Blondies in a split second. Iason didn’t reply. He didn’t know. He had never questioned this before. </p>
<p>Riki liked his name. It meant power and strength. He also looked up the name “Iason”. He couldn’t find it at first.<br/>
“It’s not here,”- he told Iason. - “Your Jupiter can’t spell.”<br/>
“…”<br/>
“Oh, there it is. It’s actually Jason, with a J. I told your Jupiter can’t spell.” Jason stood for healer and salvation. Fuck, right.<br/>
“It says your name means healer. Have you healed anyone?”<br/>
Iason couldn’t take it anymore. He went into the bathroom and shut the door. Then, in a sound-proof space of his safe-house of a bathroom, he started laughing until hot tears were running down his cheeks. While Iason was in the bathroom, Riki looked up another name. It was on a list with many variations, but they all meant the same- “life”. </p>
<p>Two days ago at a sex party, which was one of the many planned events for some visiting dignitaries and where Riki was expected to make a formal appearance because politics was above good morals, Riki was feeling how every cell in him was dying slowly. Every living cell in him shrunk, dried and crumbled. The atmosphere of this sex party was killing him. So, he did what he always did- he went out for a smoke. The security didn’t let him leave the building without a special clearance from Iason but then Riki noticed a fire escape. He opened the door and saw stairs leading all the way up to the roof. He didn’t care if he had set any fire alarms on by opening this door, he just needed to get out. He shouldered the roof lid and it opened without any resistance. Riki climbed on the roof. It had bloody protection railings, of course. The night view of Tanagura spell-bounded Riki. This view was so much different than from Iason’s apartment. This building was much smaller, so the city was much closer. A burning monster sprawling to the furthermost edge of the horizon. There somewhere was Ceres. It would be that time of the night when Depraved would start to fill with its usual patrons, people would laugh, toast to each other, play a stupid card game and get laid. It was simple. It was honest. Riki knocked his forehead against the iron railing and cursed honestly. </p>
<p>“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuckety fuck. Fuck.” Release of expletives made him fell much better.<br/>
“That bad?”</p>
<p>Riki didn’t turn around. He had no idea someone else was on the roof, too. But, hey, he could relate. This party sucked arse big time.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Circus has left, but it forgot to take the clowns.”<br/>
“So it IS that bad?”<br/>
“It’s the worst. The bastard that organized this party should be kicked off the cliff...”- Riki finally turned around to face his conversant and his voice trailed away when he saw who was in front of him.</p>
<p>A PREDATOR.</p>
<p>In front of him was the Blondie whom Riki had just suggested to be kicked off the cliff- Aisha Rosen, Lord of Tanagura, the Unyielding Noble. This Blondie moved so silently as if the feet were not touching the ground and now Aisha was standing between Riki and the fire escape lid, cutting Riki’s retreat. Green unblinking predatory eyes were coldly grilling into Riki’s face. Green wasn’t even a good name for the colour in Aisha’s eyes, it was green diluted by layers of ice that it was almost colourless. And then Aisha’s eyes went completely white. Riki had already seen Iason change his own hair colour and length a couple of times and the radical transformation of his Blondie didn’t surprise Riki anymore (“Blue hair? Are you menstruating? OUCH THAT HURTS IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY?”) but this...this transformation was different. To make the matters worse, Aisha Rosen was very tall. All Blondies were tall and if Riki had to look Iason in the eye and they were both standing, he had to cock his head backwards a lot or bring a chair he could climb on. But Aisha was standing so close that it seemed to double the height. Then, what seemed to be a million years later, Aisha snapped out of it, turned back and walked away to the concealed elevator door. Riki felt his legs started to tremble and he leaned back to the iron railing for support. Then he felt something cold in his crotch...Fuck. He had peed all over himself. </p>
<p>Riki the Dark, how pathetic...</p>
<p>[Present Day]</p>
<p>What started as a spoiled Blondie’s whim (let’s be honest here, years and years of being dotted on as „Jupiter’s favourite Son“ have their effect, Jupiter ruined Iason beyond repair, inside this magnificent Blondie lived a braggy teenager who got away with everything) now backfired to the place least expected- Ceres. The mongrel population lived in extreme poverty and chances of getting out and getting ahead were few and far between. A living proof of this was Kirie, now turned into a docile sex doll- another secret that was out and about. Truth be said, if anyone wanted to keep it a secret, they should have known better than to provide Kirie for a visiting dignitary and a couple of pictures for Tanagura’s news circulations carried the news to the very slums Kirie came from. Those who could not read what was printed still had eyes to see a former member of Bison drooling silly beside an honourable guest. Getting away from the slums at the expense of becoming a Pet suddenly didn’t seem such a bright idea anymore. But Ceres was an ecosystem in its own right. Yes, it had its political autonomy and its limitation that essentially made Area 9 into a ghetto, but Ceres population was tough. Mongrels knew they could count only on themselves and their gangs for support and survival. Winters were deadly, nutritious food was scarce, alcohol and drug abuse was abundant and lifespan of a slum mongrel was a pittance. Elites and other citizens-proper thought that Ceres was “crotch of Midas” and that slums were where a rock hit its bottom and then someone started knocking from underneath the bottom. Ceres begged to differ and that said “crotch” had a very hard dick of a backbone. Loyalty, bravery and honour were what mongrels swore by. Yes, they were hungry. Yes, they didn’t shower every day. Yes, they picked people’s pockets and sold quick blowjobs. But they were free. Riki shocked Apatia by wearing his slum clothes, he stuck to them as if to his second skin, though, truth be said, his infamous notoriety earned him the dubious honour of “street wear trendsetter” and if Riki had remained in Apatia during his year of freedom he would have actually seen a couple of fashion designers launching some interesting collections actually inspired by gangster style, but one must be forgiving here as fashion has always been the mirror of the social life. In Apatia Riki always wore a motorcycle jacket but little did anyone outside Area 9 knew that in Ceres such jackets could not be bought. It was not a question of money (and the jacket was one hell of expensive), it was a question of pride. Such jackets as Riki’s were custom made and presented by a gang that voted if to invite someone to be a member of theirs. A chosen candidate would exhibit the qualities of loyalty, bravery and honour, and a leather motorcycle jacket would be custom made by a special tailor of the slums for a hefty sum of money according to exact specifications of its wearer. One specification was certain-the jacket was most blades-proof. There was only one other option of receiving such a jacket outside gang initiation-it was by removing it from a dead body. </p>
<p>[Flashback. Sometime during Riki’s three years with Iason. A day or two after Riki’s moving to an own apartment in Apatia.]</p>
<p>Riki couldn’t believe it. He had been sent flowers. The courier in a flower shop uniform was holding a big bunch of flowers before him.<br/>
“Carnations?” -asked Riki with incredulity.<br/>
“Yes. Our best stock,”- replied the courier proudly.<br/>
“Your best stock is funeral flowers?”<br/>
“!!!”<br/>
“Carnations are funeral flowers. If I got sent carnations, I would try to remember whom I fought with last time. Who’s it from? This dude is gonna be single loooooong time.”<br/>
“Carnations can be sent as compliments. Unless they are arranged into a casket bouquet. Then the bloke means it.” They both burst into laughter. “So, you accepting it?”- the courier made a pointing gesture towards the bouquet. He didn’t have a whole day to do this shit. If the receiver had a problem with the choice of flowers, he had to sort it out with the sender. Though, truth be said, carnations in their shop WERE a popular choice for commemorative events of a sadder nature, but this usually pertained to white carnations. This particular bunch was red. Riki picked up a card.</p>
<p>“Welcome to your new home. Don’t fuck it up big time,”- he read the text. Not signed, just “K”. Riki didn’t need to be a genius to decipher who was standing behind that initial. Katze, the one and only, of course. But Katze sending him flowers… this just made Christian Gray seem like a normal dude. Riki saw the courier out and picked up his phone. He found Katze’s number in the contact directory and messaged him.</p>
<p>R: “Hey. This is your new crush. If you don’t know who it is, here’s a hint- we got rid of a body together.” He waited. Did Iason monitor his phone?- Riki wondered. A new message beeped.<br/>
K: “I ran over a stray dog. That can be hardly called a proper body.”<br/>
Ha-ha! The black market dealer picked up on Riki’s wavelength.<br/>
R: “I got the flowers, thank-you-very-fucking-much. Is this your way of revenge for our weekend trip?” Katze and Riki had to sort out a very difficult delivery which involved an overnight on an abandoned satellite and nearly ended up in a crossfire. Riki was surprised that Iason let him go. His chain has definitely grown longer. - “You still mad?”<br/>
K: “I said take A bag, as in, ONE bag. This was supposed to be a weekend trip, not an evacuation.”<br/>
R: “You said take one bag,”- Riki was trying to balance a cigarette between his lips, - “but you didn’t say how BIG it could be. You need to work on giving instructions. Besides, half of that bag was your BDSM stuff.”<br/>
K: “I checked your bag before we boarded the shuttle. There was no BDSM stuff.”<br/>
R: “Were you relieved or disappointed?”<br/>
K: “My day started well. Don’t ruin it.”<br/>
Riki picked it up quickly. Friendly banter was over. And if Iason did monitor his phone, he might have a question or two about what BDSM exactly happened between Riki and Katze. Riki didn’t want to be the one to answer this question. If Iason had a sense of humour, it was dead and buried under the layers of his icy personality and that’s where Riki could honestly lay a bunch of carnations in grief. And even if Katze was a castrate, it meant he could not receive pleasure, but he still could give one…<br/>
WHAHAHAH, what-a-fuck, was he just thinking about kinky sex with Katze? Riki gave himself a facepalm that crushed his cigarette. A new message from Katze followed, anyway.<br/>
K: “Spare motorcycle parts? Seriously?”<br/>
R: “I saved them from a bad buyer. Don’t tell Iason.”<br/>
K: “He already knows.”</p>
<p>Riki closed his phone. Of course Iason knew. Of course Iason fucking knew EVERYTHING. </p>
<p>That evening Iason calls Katze and tells him never to send Riki flowers again. </p>
<p>[Present Day]</p>
<p>What exactly backfired to Ceres was that Riki was giving the slums a bad name. That sounds about wrong, how can one give a bad name to, essentially speaking, something that’s essentially already a bad name? Riki, apparently, could. The rumours of an untamed Pet reached Ceres. Riki’s limited public appearance resulted in very few visuals and his secret was safe for those three initial years with Iason. Truth be said, Riki’s sudden disappearance left Bison so disfragmented and lost for words and action that it was better to think of him as of missing and dead. Guy and the members of his gang did search for Riki high and low and Ceres contributed in searching for its “Charisma” by allowing itself to be turned inside out just to confirm that Riki was nowhere to be found. No-one ever considered a shocking possibility of Riki becoming a Pet to an Elite and if Riki did take a chance of escaping the slums, who could honestly blame him? Tracing whereabouts of slum mongrels was a lost cause as no-one wore any IDs that were working on Amoi’s citizen registry. Riki the Dark became a beautiful legend of Ceres, then he came back to prove he was a living legend, and then he was gone once more. But this time was different. Bison was arrested (hardly a surprise) and very quickly released (a very big surprise), Guy drank a lot (hardly a surprise) and showed his bad temper and attitude to anyone close by (hardly a surprise, too). An incident here and there, a voice pitch too high at Depraved… Ceres was an ecosystem that did, as one of Tanagura’s secrets, supply Furniture to Elites; Furniture that had their names changed but not their loyalty, bravery and honour removed by nanosurgery; Furniture that managed to pour some hard earned money back to Ceres and in times when hunger was stronger than pride this money was gratefully taken. Well, someone spilled the beans. Riki was a Pet to Iason Mink and this was now common knowledge in Ceres. Shocking? Very much so. Iason Mink was keeping a Pet who was an untamed, defiant, feisty, arrogant bastard of a mongrel who dragged Iason’s name in the mud so much that if mud turned to paper this name was hardly legible. Riki was a cat who not only peed in his Master’s slippers, but who actually went and bought those slippers himself so he could pee in them.  Part of Riki’s infamous glory fell on Ceres. It hurt. Ceres mongrels had their pride, dignity, strength, intelligence, and a cocky thrive for survival. The current situation was a double-edged sword: a Blondie who kept a Pet that could not be tamed and a social sphere that produced this particular Pet. Fingers were pointing to Ceres, and more specifically to Guardian, which was, as a matter, no, as THE matter of fact, under the direct control of Tanagura. If you produce faulty citizens, who are not actual citizens, are you even allowed to bitch about it? </p>
<p>As long as Guardian was located in Ceres, it was a tumour. </p>
<p>So, whose fault was it? Raul Am had no doubt about it. No matter how much this Blondie ignored Riki’s unique personality because for Raoul Pets were a lesser life form, mainly of his own design, but Raoul had all the sharpness of a medical man. The main culprit was no one other but Iason Mink himself. “Iason lived for dominance. It was the very essence of his existence. It was the only way for Iason to be himself.” The biggest brain of Amoi acted out as the biggest dick of Amoi. “Riki is mine even if the world shatters around me know,”- said Iason, the creative director of his own misfortune, and only because his apartment was located so high in Eos Tower he could not feel the earthquake that was beginning to tremble under his feet. Iason, as any other Master, was a dominant. He had kept pets before. He had corrected pets before. He had DONE THINGS before. This time, when Riki offered to pay for saving him by his body, Iason Mink should have said no. He should have saved the moment and taken his payment under his own conditions. But Iason had his own pride and his pride was hurt. How could a Blondie’s pride be hurt by what some slum mongrel had to say?-this Raoul could not understand. Iason confided in Raoul and the night he confessed to Raoul that he loved Riki, he told the whole story of their first sex encounter to an astonished confidante and a long time esteemed friend. That night Raoul Am for the first time ever had a slight doubt of the stability of Jupiter’s reign because what Iason was talking about was totally out of control. Iason should have said no. But he didn’t.</p>
<p>No, he didn’t. And what did Raoul say? “Pets have to be kept as Pets,”- that’s what Raoul said. You want to take a slum mongrel and to train him to be a sex slave? Why, by all means, be my guest! Pets were kept, after all, for entertainment and when one is Blondie, there is, truth be said, very little entertainment. Everything a Blondie could possibly ever want was as far as his hand could outstretch. There was no work in getting things but all play and no work makes Jack or Iason, doesn’t mater, a dull boy. Raoul was a man of science at heart and squirted at official events where his presence was required, but he did attend them as a Blondie. That was a JOB. Raoul was entertained greatly in his laboratory but he could allow that other Blondies had other preferences. He could understand Iason to a point- anyone can buy a trained pet, but training one oneself is, rather unorthodox, but hardly criminal. Actually, harems were sent instructions of what aspect of Pet performance could be improved based on their performance reviews. Raoul was surprised that Iason would have time for this in line of his official duties as a Blondie but as long as Iason performed his duties flawlessly what he did in his spare time and behind closed doors was his own business. Now, apparently, it became everyone’s business. Which was EXACTLY the problem. </p>
<p>[Flashback. Sometime during Riki’s three years with Iason. A beginning of their relationship when Riki was testing Iason’s patience.]</p>
<p>“He wants me to eat more sugar?”- surprised Riki asked Daryl.<br/>
“No. Sugaring is a name for a technique. Master Iason wants to see more of you.”<br/>
“A technique for what?”<br/>
Daryl explained. Riki listened with growing horror.<br/>
“NO.FUCKING.WAY.”- Riki whimpered.<br/>
“Riki, it’s not your decision to make. Master Iason can shape your body any way he likes. It’s a Master’s privilege.” As if didn’t Riki know. Some brothels served sex slaves with amputated limbs and the demand was unquenchable. Compared to that, sugaring body shaping was a joke.<br/>
“How about I do eat more sugar? Maybe it falls out by itself?”<br/>
“I’ve booked you at the spa. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. And if you eat more sugar, the only thing to fall out will be your teeth.”<br/>
“You stay away from my teeth!”<br/>
“Let’s get moving, shall we? If you behave, I’ll allow you to soak in the hot tub afterwards as long as you like.” Riki had no other option but to schlep behind Daryl on a leash to the spa in Eos Tower that catered for the Pets of the Blondie Syndicate exclusively. He took his own small revenge- he walked slowly, so slowly that any other Furniture would be definitely tucking his leash. But Riki knew Daryl was powerless here even if he was the one holding the leash. If Daryl pulled too hard, bruises on Riki’s body would show up quickly and Iason would like to know why, and Daryl was not stupid. He kept his word on the hot tub and didn’t mind when Riki said he was heading to a Pet Salon next. </p>
<p>It was not true that Riki was universally hated at Pet Salon. He was popular, very popular, TOO popular with female Pets. He had friction with male Pets about that as the absolute majority of pairings were heterosexual. But Riki stayed in such an aloof dignity and he had no designated regular pairing partner, so soon male Pets learned that they didn’t have to fear competition from Riki. If they curbed their pride and held their tongue, it was, in a way, cool hang around the most exciting Pet in Tanagura. Pets were trained to be submissive to their Masters, so their respect for authority was high, and Riki eluded authority and charisma, the mix of the two was toxic. This sense of danger that hung around Riki like his cigarette smoke wherever he went was addictive and thrilling. A week later from his spa treatment Riki was going to face the consequences of his popularity as Daryl was escorting him to Iason. Furniture remained to wait outside.</p>
<p>Shit. Iason was not alone. There was Head of Midas Security with him. “Never embarrass your owner,”-said one of rules every Pet had to learn. Riki refused to acknowledge Iason as his Master but he did wear a controlling device on his penis. He ate what Iason gave him. He slept where Iason put him. He went where Iason took him. He masturbated while Iason was watching. Now Riki stopped before Iason. He didn’t dare to face this Blondie, so instead he glared at Head of Midas Security. Riki had been arrested last night. A regular person would have to come down to a police station to collect his property but out of immense respect for Iason Mink this time Head of Midas Security, courtesy of Midas Darkmen, took Riki back himself. Iason was carefully inspecting a charge list while Head of Midas security shuffled uneasily- a Blondie up so close was a rare sighting even for a man of his position. Iason looked up and his eyes narrowed. Iason was irritated.</p>
<p>“This says here you and a bunch of other Pets were removed for a number of violations while being drunk in a brothel strip club.” Iason tossed the tablet on his desk. Head of Midas Security had a visible shiver going down his spine as he heard Iason Mink speak. Iason spoke in a calm and quiet manner that was worse than thunder and lightning.<br/>
“I hate to piss on your bonfire but this is bullshit!”- charged Riki. Head of Midas Security gasped.<br/>
“Really?”- said Iason in a much quieter voice, his eyes narrowing again dangerously,- “which part of these charges exactly is bullshit?”<br/>
“All of it! First of all,”- Riki held up one finger towards Head of Midas Security (doing this towards Iason Mink was high risk of losing a valued limb),- “I was not drunk. I was not sober from the night before, that’s different. You dragged me to that stupid party yourself! Two,”- Riki added a second finger,- “it was not a brothel, it was a legal point of erotic entertainment that pays taxes to the city and someone, won’t say the name, gets a fair share of it. Three,”- Riki added one more finger,- “I was not removed from a strip club but from a go-go dance pole, which is a sport!“ Head of Midas Security was shitting bricks now. </p>
<p>“So, you want to say you took up a SPORT?”- asked Iason as if that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. Head of Midas Security visibly paled. -”Does sport know about it? But that’s good. Sport will give you some...discipline.” He turned to Head of Midas Security and dismissed him with a simple “That’s all”.  Head of Midas Security left the room as quickly as if the ground under his feet was on fire. A most powerful Blondie was going to discipline his Pet, very righteously so, and Head of Midas Security wanted to be no part of it.<br/>
“Daryl!”- said Iason, pushing an intercom buzzer that allowed him to connect with his Furniture.<br/>
“Yes, Master?”<br/>
“Put Riki in his restraints. Hands and feet bracelets, a collar. Let me know when you are done.”<br/>
“You bastard!”- cried Riki. -”You have no right!”<br/>
“Oh, I have every right, I assure you.”<br/>
Doors opened and in came Daryl with a Pet leash to put on Riki before he would escort him to his Pet room for punishment.<br/>
“No!”- cried Riki.<br/>
“Riki, it’s happening. Don’t make me give you my worst,”- quietly replied Furniture. But there was something in the demure attitude of this experienced Furniture that made Riki freeze and also, at the same time, he felt his Pet ring give him a warning vibration. Iason watched silently as Daryl was leashing up Riki, fingering his Pet control ring. Daryl took Riki out.<br/>
“I hate you,”- whispered Riki as he was following his Furniture, a heating sensation slowly spreading through his crotch area.<br/>
“I know. But it has to be done. One day I’ll make it up for you. I promise.” </p>
<p>When everything was done and Riki fell asleep, Iason quietly gathered himself to leave. He bent down to give Riki a kiss while he was sleeping but then paused millimeters away from Riki’s face, and then slowly rose up straight. He’d better not kiss his Pet while he was sleeping. This made Iason fell...violated. He kissed sleeping Riki last time. Riki didn’t wake up but pouted so beautifully that Iason couldn’t help but grin like an idiot and no doubt the sight of this would have made Jupiter reload herself twice. Then his smile died on his lips as Riki turned around in his sleep while saying: “Fuck off, Guy, let me sleep.” Now Iason just lingered over Riki for a few silent moments and left. </p>
<p>It took Daryl good three years to keep his promise when he hacked into Eos security protocols to let Riki go. </p>
<p>[Present Day.]</p>
<p>Ceres was mobilized. Gang leaders for the first time in, oh, so many, many years swallowed their pride and met in a somewhat of a summit. Gangs were unofficial formations and their leaders were unofficial force, but as long as they were acknowledged by other gangsters as leaders of their respective gangs, things could get sorted out. Ceres was dead and alive at the same time, even blind alleys had eyes and deaf tunnels had ears- everyone knew who wielded what power in Ceres. Bison used to be the daredevils who wouldn’t miss a good opportunity of a good chaos and a good provocation. Baldur gang was the forever silver Olympic medalist after Bison, Jeeks and Maddox were biting each other for the bronze. And there were more gangs with names lost to history. If Riki had stayed in Ceres, one day he could have become Lord of Ceres, mainly due to his charisma. Now uncharismatic Ceres, in representation of its gangs’ leaders, had to decide where it stood in this matter. Was Ceres loyal to Riki? Was it brave enough to stand by him? And, most importantly, was there any honour in that? </p>
<p>Unbeknownst to the event that was unfolding in Ceres, Riki was brooding over the balcony of Iason’s apartment. He liked looking up at the starry sky that spread above the lights of the city. He somehow felt a connection there. Riki was a human being after all and there was real blood in his veins, and the iron in his veins was identical to the iron found on stars, which made Riki and other humans, very broadly speaking, stardust. Riki wanted to go back to his apartment in Apatia but Iason wouldn’t allow him. Iason had some inside knowledge that he didn’t want to share with Riki- his Pet’s presence in Apatia was no longer safe. Iason was a man who feared nothing and everything feared him but he had serious competition on the black market that could get ugly to the point of Riki being kidnapped and shipped to him in pieces, starting with his Pet ring carrying organ to remove the tracer. Then Riki could be kept hidden and tortured for days. Iason knew he was good at keeping security levels up but living with Riki had taught this Blondie something new- Iason grew to realize he was almighty, but he was no God. So, Riki was left with no choice but stay sulking in Iason’s apartment. Riki had been confined to his old Pet room which he couldn’t open from inside and he protested against it. He asked Iason what about fire precautions and Iason said chances of fire breaking out accidentally are considerably slim, then Riki asked what if he himself started a fire on purpose. That got him stark naked and strip-searched, then he got locked up again for some thinking time. Iason would not use ring pain mode- why apply methods that don’t work? If it hadn’t worked for three years, there was little chance it was going to work now. But Riki had a panic attack and fainted by the balcony door, bleeding his knuckles from trying to break through to catch some real fresh air. As his room was monitored by Cal all the time (except when Iason was in it, then the cameras went black and Cal preferred not to know why), the worried Furniture rushed to the rescue and from then on there was an unspoken rule that Riki’s movements can be confined to a closed Pet room and an open balcony where he could take air and smoke. Iason hated making up new rules in the middle of the game but he didn’t need a reason to care for his Pet, he just...cared, but in his own steep learning curve. </p>
<p>“If you are thinking of jumping over the balcony, then you should know there are security nets there to catch you,”- Riki heard the voice of his Furniture Cal. Riki smirked. He had no intention of climbing over the balcony into the opaque clouds that hung thick at what seemed to be at a hand’s reach. Part of Riki was scared of not being able to see the ground. He knew it was high but it would be somehow crazily convenient to know HOW exactly high it was. And he had no idea there were any security nets. Well, this information now saved him time from considering this as an escape route, so well done, mate. Cal had a sense of Furniture humour, which was just a fraction better than funeral humour, of which Iason Mink was the slayer king.</p>
<p>“Must be often that someone decides to take a plunge?”- half seriously, half jokingly replied Riki. Cal just smiled shyly and shrugged his frail shoulders. Even if he did possess such statistics, he wasn’t willing to share but, fuck yeah, there were Pets and Furniture taking a plunge; two recorded instances happened from this very balcony. That’s WHY the security net was there. That smile touched Riki’s heart. Somewhere, deep inside, a figure started gaining a form from the oblivion. Riki closed his eyes and held his breath. Yes, many years ago, in another life...Riki reached out and gently ran his finger’s over Cal’s cheek. Furniture’s eyes widened in surprise and his jaw dropped a little.</p>
<p>“I dreamt of your face for so many nights,”- said Riki,- “your name is...Umilenya…I remember now...”</p>
<p>Cal sighed. He took Riki’s hand and put it back to his cheek. Tears appeared in the eyes of this Furniture.<br/>
“It took you a long time to remember.“<br/>
“I thought it was a dream,”- said Riki.- ‘Why didn’t you ever say anything?”<br/>
“I was so surprised when I saw you here. You didn’t remember me and I didn’t want you to. Being a Furniture is….difficult. Some Pets are mean and cruel because of their privileged origins. Furniture is disposable trash, Pets are expensive luxury. And Master Iason doesn’t like when I remember that I had a life before him.”<br/>
“That makes two of us,”- said Riki, bitterly.<br/>
“I watched what was happening from my hideout window. You fought bravely but they were five against one. It’s unfair but they were intent on giving you a good lesson. You are so lucky they just beat you up into a pulp. They could have hacked you to pieces, Riki. But, man, you were heavy! I nearly had a fit while I was dragging you towards Bison’s territory and you were on and off the entire time. When I saw some of your gang members, I just dropped you and ran away. I just...didn’t want any trouble.”<br/>
“What were you doing there?”<br/>
“I lived there. I was out of Guardian, where they usually select Furniture, like for two or three days when Katze recruited me from the street and used his contacts to get me sorted. I still have no idea why. I guess that makes me a despicable Furniture but, after all, all Furniture is mongrels regardless where it comes from. But I bet you know that already.”<br/>
“I am painfully aware of that”- replied Riki, remembering the knife incident with Simon and Katze’s story.-“Does Iason know this? That you were recruited outside Guardian?”<br/>
“I don’t know. I go by “don’t ask-don’t tell.” But he trusts Katze’s recommendations.”</p>
<p>Riki nodded. Katze’s recommendations were solid steel, Katze’s word was as good as bread. And Riki considered Katze a friend. The time they spent together working on the black market when Iason allowed Riki some maneuvering freedom tied the two of them with a bond of professional trust. They never uttered the F word (“friend”, that is) but they had a strong mutual understanding and something that came close to respect. When Katze was around, Riki felt safe. </p>
<p>“But you were living there in Ceres, at the crossroad of Revolutionary and Uspenskaya?”- Riki was travelling in his mind back to a distant past. Ceres had no maps but its streets had names, call it a mongrel attitude if you like. Rumours said, there was a street called “Broken Glass” and that’s where lived those whose hearts Riki the Dark broke and now they spent their miserable days walking on the broken pieces of their shattered hearts. “But that’s where…” -Riki’s eyes widened, - “it’s called Hell’s Kitchen?”. Ceres had a Ceres in it. An area that had a reputation of a dead dog being so dead that no dead dog would ever want to die the death of a dead dog there.<br/>
“Yes. So you’d better behave with me.” -Cal made a serious face and both he and Riki burst into laughter.<br/>
“Where’s he?”- asked Riki. Not that he was missing Iason, but knowing his whereabouts was soothingly good. Anything of an answer to this question in the manner, form or fashion of  “not here” was good. Sex with Iason was awesome but it was based on the Pet ring control except for those moments when Iason would remove the ring to stimulate Riki himself. Iason started doing this after one time Riki, writhing in pleasure, told Iason in his usual defiant stance that Iason was using the ring because he could not manage to do the ring’s job himself. Boy, did get ring-treatment then! But Iason not only listened, he sometimes heard (this Blondie had a VERY selective hearing) and that was one thing he did hear really well. Now and again he would remove the Pet ring to stimulate Riki himself and for this he would even remove his gloves. Now every time Riki saw Iason removing his gloves gave him a slight shiver of an expectation. Gloves were such a thing about Blondies! Their Pets strolled butt naked but Blondies wore clothes covering their androgynous bodies top to bottom and they rarely removed their gloves in public. Rumours said, Blondies had fin flippers instead of real hands with fingers and that was the sole reason for their glove addiction. Riki used to laugh at this. He was certain Iason owned a pair of fully functional hands of human standard but as he grew more aware of the Elite society, he could not bet his life on the case of other Blondies, Aisha Rosen being a particular nutcase. „Definitely a chick,“- Riki once commented to Iason on something that Aisha Roshen had done or said and Iason just laughed in this very strange Iason-ish way. </p>
<p>“Master Iason has a meeting with Katze. Something’s come up,”- Cal shrugged shoulders. His Master’s business was way out of his competence and now he had some direct responsibilities to attend to.- “You want to eat right now?”<br/>
“I’m not hungry,“- Riki brushed him away and lighted up a cigarette. Cal sighed. Being hungry and eating nutritious meals on designated times were two different things and he had to keep Riki eating. A year of freedom made Riki heavier, rounder around the hip area, more muscular in the shoulder area and much, much paler, as if part of his life had been sucked out. His body was maturing naturally and only chemical intervention could add corrections but Iason forbade that. He still wanted „the natural thing“. Cal hated when Riki went on his hunger strikes.<br/>
”I have some new clothes for you. Why don’t you go and try them on?“</p>
<p>Riki's worn-out trademark Gorgon wool turtleneck and his metallic motorcycle jacket made him look plain. Pets were luxury and their appearance outside parings, where they were naked or wore skimpy clothes that were made for the sole purpose of fueling the imagination of what exactly they were covering, was a demonstration of their Master’s financial situation. A drawer in Riki’s apartment in Apatia still contained black velvet boxes of expensive jewelry that Iason had gifted him. Iason’s gifts were another apple of discontent between them. Riki hated taking Iason’s money. Part of his going to work on the black market was to earn his own money and to feel less dependent on this powerful Blondie. It was a joke, of course, as no money Riki could make would be able to cover the exorbitant rent of that apartment in Apatia, security, maintenance, groceries… And Iason liked to be asked. He never offered. He would wait it out until Riki eventually came to him to ask. Anything Riki wanted- he had to ask Iason for it. Riki had asked Iason for permission to do some work on the black market, and Iason consented to it. But Riki hated asking because Iason would narrow his eyes in that particularly cold manner and ask in return: „Why are you asking me for this?“. Both knew the answer that Iason was expecting was for Riki to acknowledge Iason as his owner, to finally say „Because you are my Master“. It’s been four good years now this never left Riki’s lips and Riki intended to keep it going. </p>
<p>„I don’t need no new clothes,“- blurted out Riki. -”I hate new clothes. And I hate him.”<br/>
„You have told Master Iason you hate him twice already. Is there a reason you cannot hate him while wearing nicer clothes? You should stop being such a pussy about it.” </p>
<p>Riki just gave Cal a stare. No, there was absolutely no reason he couldn’t hate Iason while wearing nice expensive clothes this Blondie was paying for. For this, Riki didn’t even need to ask. It was a Master’s duty to provide his Pet with shelter, food and clothes but there was no regulation on the exact budget fit this purpose, and Iason could be generous when he wanted, which was always. Truth be said, Iason must have decided that if he was going down, he will go down with a full blaze of glory and he kept gifting his mongrel Pet from the slums all kind of luxuries, which was rubbing Elites off the wrong way. This was another drop of oil into the fire of rumours about the unnatural attachment of Iason to his Pet because Riki’s performance didn’t qualify for such expensive gifts and it looked like Iason was rewarding his Pet for the misdoings. But after Riki’s strip-search his old mongrel clothes were gone (Cal had them locked away in a distant closet and the only reason he didn’t burn them was that he knew the exact price of that leather jacket) and all Riki was now wearing was a bathroom robe, which belonged to Iason as every inch of this floor did. </p>
<p>„You should put on some clothes if you don’t want to catch a cold and get ill. Master Iason will be very angry with me if this happens.” -Cal was holding his ground. He remembered the day he met Riki for the first time. Cal introduced himself and said he was working for Iason Mink and Riki to that replied: “My sincere condolence.” </p>
<p>Riki sighed again. There was a mutual understanding to the extent of punishment Iason would exercise on him, but this understanding didn’t stretch to Furniture. And Riki had a bad feeling about Daryl being gone. Nobody gave him a straight answer as to what had happened to Daryl. Nobody seemed to know and this was a very, very bad sign. Same for Mimea. Riki knew he could not go on wasting other lives. And blimey was he really getting cold! </p>
<p>Cal had a very good taste for clothes as a Furniture from the slums, Riki had to admit when he began inspecting a mountain of clothes on his bed. And a mountain was not an exaggeration as the latest designer stock was piled in stacks. Wool, cashmere, leather, silk, brocade, gold thread...The cream of the crop. The colour palette was neutral, many dark earthly tones that suited Riki’s brooding mood and dark skin, no visible labels, but those in the know would immediately tell the price tag was demanding serious respect. Riki fingered out a...white fur wrap. He had never worn anything like this before. The fur was artificial, the tiny particles moved as if living their own lives. Riki shuddered at the thought of falling asleep and this...this THING crawling to cover his face and eventually choking to death. Riki threw the wrap away with disgust. Then, he dug on. He chose a slightly cropped fitted black top with long sleeves, high neck and cut out shoulders, a pair of skinny black denim pants with a low waist and these two pieces of clothing somewhat opened his navel area when they couldn’t meet there, and he finished his look with a pair of plain white sneakers. His outfit was a monthly rent of an apartment in Midas, though he could only suspect something of the kind as Cal had removed the price tags. </p>
<p>Riki looked himself up in the mirror and unintentionally wondered of what would Iason think of his new outfit. Any piece of clothes Riki would put on would be eventually discarded. Riki’s mind flash-backed to the night before. One thing was certain- Iason Mink didn’t make love, Iason Mink fucked hard. And Iason had a big dick. This was to be expected by anyone who had the faintest idea of how body proportions worked. And it’s not that Riki was complaining about his lover having a big dick. Last night Iason came very close to deep-throating Riki while Riki was giving him a blowjob. Iason’s hand was on Riki’s head directing his movements and a slight vibration of his Pet ring, which was back on Riki’s own member, kept Riki very much aware of who was in control here. Iason’s manhood was in and out of Riki’s mouth for a good amount of time. Riki had his eyes shut while he was servicing Iason’s need because he just feared to meet the cold blue of Iason’s gaze. When Iason would not come, Riki braved himself to look up and to much of his surprise he saw that Iason had his eyes shut and there was a serious concentration on his face. Iason could hold himself from coming on purpose to an unbearable amount of time even for Riki’s stamina but finally one more thrust and it happened. Riki gagged but Iason’s grip was relentless until it was done as in, like, being DONE. What can one say, Iason Mink just liked being swallowed. Riki reached out to a small table besides their bed and took a cup of wine. When he finished washing down Iason inside himself, Iason pulled him on his Pet straps to lie on his back on top of the Blondie. Iason locked his grip on Riki and this time Riki didn’t even give a fight- Iason was so strong that he probably didn’t even have any idea how much power he could yield and Riki’s bruised wrists were witnesses to that. On occasions when Riki whined that Iason was hurting him, the powerful Blondie just said nonchalantly „Stop fidgeting, then“ and that was that. Iason’s glove-free hand travelled to Riki’s Pet ring, relaxed it, and started jerking Riki off.  It didn’t take Riki long to come as he had been aroused greatly by giving Iason the blow-job. The two of them lay naked silently in an embrace and wet cum. Riki reached out for a sheet to cover up his nakedness but Iason withheld his hand. Iason wasn’t done yet. He rarely was done before the early hours of the morning and they just got to bed. „I’m cold“,- whispered Riki. A small shiver was coming down his body but that was hardly cold (climate control was top-notch in his Pet room) as it was an informed expectation of what would follow next. To some extent, as an android Iason was also a sexdroid. But this time Iason removed his hand and allowed Riki to tuck under the bed cover. Iason knew Riki was very much lying about being cold but this was hardly a good moment to pick up another unproductive fight. After all, he could make his Pet cry from please under ten bed covers and blindfolded if he wanted to as he perfectly knew where what good spot was located on Riki’s body. This exactly soon followed. Riki shook his head as if he could scatter his memories of the last night like droplets of rain. Then he picked up the white fur and placed it on the top of the pile of clothes he was going to tell Cal to get rid of-he only had one body after all.</p>
<p>„Take anything you like,“- Riki said to a surprised Furniture who appeared the exact moment he was summoned. -“The rest, distribute among the harem. Make sure it’s a fair division and nobody gets a better piece than everyone else.”<br/>
„What harem?“- asked Cal with a slight shiver in is voice.<br/>
„Are you stupid?“- Riki glared at Cal. The Furniture then nodded in silent agreement about the strange request. There was one particular harem Riki cared for-the one Enif had been sent to. No matter how hard Riki pleaded Iason for buying Enif out, there was no chance. Enif had touched Riki without a permission and that was where Iason rested his case. Riki whined and bitched to have Katze finally give him information on Enif’s whereabouts. Why he wanted to meet those whose downfall he inadvertently cost, Riki had no reasonable explanation. Enif was located in one of the many harems where his useful life was nearing to an end and a transfer to a cheaper and lesser quality establishment was imminent. All Riki could do was send some charity food and clothes to Enif’s harem, much to an amazement of the harem owner, who graciously accepted. Iason, of course, knew about it and could put a stop to it but he didn’t. To Iason, Enif simply didn’t exist. And Riki thought that expensive gifts would buy Enif some time until he maybe got Iason to reconsider.<br/>
“Master Iason wanted you to have those things. He spent a lot of money on them. He will not be pleased to know you gave them away.”<br/>
“I could be a drug addict. Do you know how lucky you are?”<br/>
“Yes, as a matter of fact. A million of boys would kill for this job. And I held your hair last night when you puked.”<br/>
“I live here. You just work here.”<br/>
“I.HELD.YOUR.HAIR.WHEN.YOU.PUKED.”<br/>
Riki rolled his eyes. This Furniture was a real punishment. </p>
<p>[Present Day.]</p>
<p>Ceres came to a decision. Not unanimously, but with a good majority of votes. Pet Law was accurate enough but allowed manipulation and for any good lawyer there was a better lawyer. Some areas governing Pet Law have not been essentially covered. Some areas have been purposefully left gray by the founding masterminds of this law. Pet Law applied to Midas-reared Pets only, there was nothing legally or illegally binding Iason and a slum mongrel. This was just exactly what got Jupiter confused out of her own algorithm. And when Jupiter is confused, Jupiter does things. Unpleasant things. So there were things and there were boxes and it was important to put these things in these boxes correctly for the common good. Ceres rolled a dice one final time. As long as Iason Mink would keep Riki for his private viewing in lifelong incarceration of good standard, Ceres would not object. That essentially meant Riki was confined to a property of Iason’s choice, and Iason knew he could score high on this one again as Aisha Rosen had once already agreed to allow him to keep Riki in Apatia. That should calm the storm in Jupiter’s Tower and Tanagura and even the cleverest Elite lawyer could not pick a bone with this proposal because it was a CUSTOM that some Elites kept their Pets as lovers in Apatia after their two-year stint, it was an open secret and not even Jupiter stroke their love nests, which were abhorrent perversion to the good morals, with a lightning bolt. Word was sent to Katze, who was to be the deliverer of this message to Iason as Ceres drew a clear final line where the communication about this subject would end. Katze belonged to two worlds now-a former Furniture to Iason Mink and a present black market dealer with connections in Ceres. If Iason Mink wanted to send a reply, he could do so via Katze, but after announcing its final decision Ceres made it a point that it is not interested in a return communication with the Blondie. Riki was a beautiful legend of Ceres and that was the last of it.</p>
<p>Guy didn’t eat and didn’t sleep. Then Guy was gone for days. Some people said he was seen hanging around Dana Bahn, but it could not be confirmed. </p>
<p>And Iason was totally OK with it. The imbalance of power was staggering but, truth be said, if he wanted someone his equal, he would be screwing another Blondie. He could be screwing Raoul, for example. But he has Riki and he loves Riki, problem is that he hasn’t told that to Riki yet (Iason wanted to pour kerosene over himself and strike a match for his own stupidity because he confessed his love for Riki to Raoul instead of Riki, how was that exactly helping them?) and he was not good at showing it. But Riki knew that Iason loved him, Iason was sure of that, just Riki never acted on it. Was it important to Iason for Riki to love him back? No, at this point not really. It was important to Iason to possess Riki just like a child wants to possess a favourite toy, a toy with which he eats, sleeps and washes, a toy he secretly packs into his college bag and an army duffle later, a toy which smells of cinnamon and candles and oranges, a toy which says that everything’s going to be fine and he wants to be able to consume every inch of Riki’s body with his mouth. If Riki could at least agree to being... possessed, maybe it could work out. They could have a relationship. They already have a relationship, just not a healthy one. Iason knew that on the conditions proposed to him there was no taking Riki to look at dolphins ever. There was no black market. There was no Pet Salon. There was a lifelong containment in a secured apartment with every conceivable convenience where they could do things together, away from the public scrutiny. Normal things. And maybe their relationship will start to heal because Riki will finally understand that Iason doesn’t want to kill him and wear his skin as a suit. They...could do things Iason had seen in that porn print. Iason was more than sure they WOULD do at least some of those things because Riki responded to his touch with such passion that sometimes Iason felt his augmented brain was starting to shoot fireworks. But they will also read books. They will also watch films. They will also listen to music and dance. Maybe cook a little. They will also keep a fish tank and the fish will be called after the greatest persons in history. They will also sit in front of the fireplace and roast marshmallows. They will have an ordinary life in extraordinary circumstances. There were so many things they could do together that Iason felt breathless for a moment. This was “the real thing.” Finally, it was happening.  </p>
<p>Katze was watching the road ahead of himself while sitting behind Iason’s space vehicle’s steering wheel as his designated driver of choice but in the driver’s mirror he could see this Blondie’s face. And the black marker dealer slash former Furniture could swear by his own steel reputation of a beaten street dog that Iason Mink, a top Elite Blondie, “Jupiter’s favourite Son”, was actually smiling. </p>
<p>And that did creep Katze out. </p>
<p>[Sometime later. Undisclosed location. Presumably in Apatia.]</p>
<p>“Marshmallows? Really?”<br/>
“You’ll take it and you’ll like it.”</p>
<p>The End</p>
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